Engagement | Proposal | Engagement-Proposal for Marriage

By habibkhan
March 13, 2015

Engagement is simply the time before the wedding when people start arrangements and preparations. But it does not involve any physical contact between the bride and groom. Basically, engagement is the proposal and the first step for marriage. It is an initial agreement that all parties must respect. It is the first step in marriage. Due to the utmost importance of marriage, Allah made regulations and shariah rulings that all parties are required to stand for. Engagement is the normal introduction to marriage.
Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ said:

“Announce marriage and conceal engagement.”

It is the basic rule that the man proposes engagement and this is mentioned in the Quran and the sunnah. ALLAH says:

{There is no blame upon you for that to which you [indirectly] allude concerning a proposal to women or for what you conceal within yourselves.} [Quran 2: 235]

Importance of Engagement:

Engagement is a kind of contract, nobody else can ask for the engaged girl’s hand in marriage. Engagement is a common tradition in our country, it is also present in Islam. As a matter of fact, our prophet Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ married Hazrat Aisha after an engagement period of about three years.
Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ said:

“When one of you proposes to a woman, if he could look at of her to see what urges him to marry her, and then let him do that.” [Ahmad, Abu Daawood, Al-Haakim and Al-Bayhaqi]

This preserves the woman’s modesty, respects her pride, safeguards her honor, and secures her from being deceived into marrying an unrighteous man.

The period after Ceremony:

After this ceremony, the first attempt is to set up a relation between the families. The parties send each other presents and preparations for the wedding. The sign for the couples is the rings. The man can only wear a silver ring since it is not appropriate for him to wear a ring made of gold.

After the engagement, couples should not only see each other and talk to each other alone. but also avoid shaking hands with each other. Even during the marriage ceremony unless the marriage contract is signed, they should not violate the boundaries of privacy. Only after the marriage contract goes into effect, will they be halal to each other.